xt786688kw16 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt786688kw16/data/mets.xml  Kentucky  1963 newsletters  English Eddyville, Ky.: Kentucky State Penitentiary  This digital resource may be freely searched and displayed. Permission must be received for subsequent distribution in print or electronically. Physical rights are retained by the owning repository. Copyright is retained in accordance with U. S. copyright laws. Please go to https://exploreuk.uky.edu for more information. Castle on the Cumberland Kentucky State Penitentiary -- Periodicals Journalism, Prison -- Kentucky Castle on the Cumberland, May 1963 text Kentucky State Penitentiary v.: ill. 28 cm. Call Numbers HV8301 .C37 and 17-C817 20:C279 Castle on the Cumberland, May 1963 1963 1963 2021 true xt786688kw16 section xt786688kw16  

 

 

 

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A Penal Press Publication ' «
MAY 15, 1965 f7
"This, too, shéllrpasE" ~_:;

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ViEEHEPAHTMENT REPORTS
‘EQfLATE NEWS

NIGHTKEEPER'S REPORT 188613;,

, TTHE CASTLE LAUGIB

 

 

 

' V ”IN" mxsgmoNTHiE CASTLE; 7- ,

FHGM THE EHTTGH'S DESK ' 7

BEFDRE GAGARIN (ShoEt Story)
Red Army Captain GoremykiE ‘

Prepares for a Day in Space gfg9;5E3-

AFTER HALE A CENTURY (Fact)
Observations Of an offlclal

:after 50 years in corrections ,13}E;1
' PAGES FROM THE PAST (Hlstory)

7'4'vAmer1can Prlsons Then and wa” h ;i:

 

THE EXCHANGE PAGE 16"

. , 9 TALL TALES 1;; 17 if;

   

" ‘ GROSSWORD PUZZLE " L9,... 5 23

 

IDESTATISTIGS & MOVIES 2h

   

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Volume II, Number XI May 15, 1965

 

CASTLE ON THE CUMBERLAND

 

ADMINISTRATION

The Honorable Bert To Combs, Governor
Wilson W. wyatt, Lt. Governor

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS IN3TITUTIONAI:ADMINISTRATION

 

Marshall Swain, Commissioner Luther Thomas, Warden
Department of Corrections
Lloyd Armstrong, Deputy Warden
Dr. Harold Black, Director
Division oi Institutions W. To Baxter, Captain of the Guard
Department of Corrections

W} Z. Carter, Director of Education Reverend Paul Jaggers, Chaplain.
Department of Corrections

Henry E. Cowan, Supervisor of Education

William Egbert, Vocational Instructor
BOARD OF PARDONS & PAROIES '

 

Dre Fred Moffatt CASTLE STAFF
Executive Director

Welter Ferguson Lawrence Snow, Editor
Chairman of the Board
Harold Arnold, Associate Editor
Simeon Willis

Member James McKinney, Art Editor
Ernest Thompson John Busby
Member Multilith Operator

 

 

The CASTLE ON THE CUMBERLAND is published monthly by the inmates of the Kentucky
State Penitentiary at Eddyville. Subscriptions, one dollar a year, payable by
money order at: CASTLE ON THE CUMBERLAND, Box 128, Eddyville, Kentucky; and by
inmates at the Chief Clerk's office. Articles are solicited, but the CASTLE re-
serves the right to reject, edit or revise any material submitted. Opinions ex-
pressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the administration.
Permission is hereby granted to reproduce any part of this magazine, provided
preper credit is given to author and source. A marked copy of the quoting pub-

lication will be appreciated.

 

 

 

 LOUISVILLE JOURNALIST MAKES SUPREME—'3 SACRIFICE -- GOES? TO PRISON TO TAKE INSEIDE LOOK

in the state
prison two

As practically everyone
knows, Dick Berger went to
months ago. Unlike some prisoners,
Berger went quietly —— he had volunw
teered to be committed as part of the
campaign for penal reform being cone
ducted by two Louisville newspapers, the
morning COURIER JOURNAL and the aftera
noon TDMES. ‘

His hands shackled in the standard belt—
and-chain arrangement, the reporter was
taken to the receiving section of the
Kentucky State Reformatory at LaGrange,
searched, showered, treated for body
lice, and issued the usual blue denim
suit, complete with number. An inter»
view with warden David L. Davis (who,
with Governor Combs, had given his
blessing to the undercover survey) fol~
lowed; then Berger was led toward the
"fish tank" —- the dormitory where new
prisoners ("fish") Spend their first
thirty days.

But Berger wasn't destined to Spend his
first night in the fish tank. Instead,
a misunderstanding resulted in his
spending an almost sleepless night in
the reformatoryvs psychiatric ward == an
education in itself%

Eventually, the
transferred to the

TIMES reporter was
fish tank and then,

briefly,- to a dormitory on the yard
proper. Rumors that there was an inn
vestigator of some kind in the prison,

however, cut short Berger's stay, which
would have included a transfer to this
penitentiary.

His sojourn behind bars was long enough
for Dick Berger to get some idea of what
it is like to begin a long sentence in
the reformatory, nevertheless. In a
six-part series that ran last month in
the LOUISVILLE TIMES, he drew a detailed
and objective picture of the almost un=
believably crowded conditions, the film
thy and uncomfortable sleeping accomodam
tions, the poor food and the jungle
atmOSphere of the fish tank.

‘2

The last installment of the series
consisted of an interview with warden
Davis, who agreed with Berger's report
and an earlier report made of both
Kentucky institutions by the National
Council on Crime and Delinquency. He
said the prison had "too little of
everything except prisonerS," and
stressed the need for more money to cor-
rect not only the physical defects of
the institution, but the shortage of
personnel as well.

Dick Berger’s assignment must have taken
courage. He jumped from the comfort-
able, secure, wellwfed world of the
average citizen into the almost animal
existence of prison without even the
transition period provided by the usual
stay in a county jail awaiting trial.
The lack of privacy, the food, the
crowded quarters, and the company of
thieves, murderers, dope fiends and perv
verts in the dogueat-dog world of the
fish tank, must have been a marked con-
trast to the kind of life he had
temporarily left behind. And, added to
the normal apprehension every first
timer feels when he enters prison,
Berger had to contend with the constant
fear of being mistaken for a "company
man" or a law enforcement officer in
disguise.

His series followed a resume of the NCCD
report and a series of articles centered
around the needs of the Kentucky penal
system by Ora Spaid of the COURIER
JOURNAL, as well as several features on
probation and parole by Barbara Carlson
of the TIMES.

The penal system has also come in for
attention from top state officials.
Governor Bert Combs, who earlier pledged
penal reform for this last year of his
term, appointed a special “Correctional
Task Force" to study the needs of both
institutions and make recommendations
for possible action. A new building
program which would relieve congestion
in both institutions by providing separw
ate "colonies" on the three prison farms

 

 

 for trusties, is also in the planning
stages. Finally; a special session of
the legislature will probably be held
this summer to act on correctional
problemso

FAMED WARDEN SPEAKS OUT AT INDIANA RE“
FORMAJDRY AGAINST CORRECTIONAL EVIB$

 

Clinton Duffy, former warden of Califor-

nia's San Quentin Prison whose daring
reforms of that once-troubled penal
institution elevated him to national

prominence, Spoke to members of the Re-
formatory Press Club at the Indiana
State Reformatory at Pendleton last

m0 nth o

In his address, Duffy stressed the need
for sentencing reforms that would enable
prison officials to release inmates when
they are ready for release rather than
when an arbitrarily determined number of
years have expired. "This would mean
that some convicted murderers could
possibly be released before felons con—
victed of less violent acts," he said,
going on to say that changes in a man's
character and his readiness to live in
harmony with the outside world should be
the criteria for determining his release
date.

Duffy, who eliminated the dungeon and
the lash when he became warden of San
Quentin, also Spoke vehemently against
capital punishment, saying that it is
against our moral code and does not
deter murderers, but that it also rem
sults in “unequal justiceo" '

He alSo stated that he believed that
conjugal visits with wives, such as are
allowed in Alaska and Mississippi, would
go far toward eliminating perversion as
a normal part of prison life»

CONVICT POET WINS MAGAZINE AWARD

 

David Jones, staff writer for the
PENDLETON REFLECTOR (Indiana State Rer-
formatory), took first prize in a
national poetry contest Sponsored by
WRITER'S DIGEST, it was announced last
month;

The selection of his poem, "The writer,"
over those of free poets entered in the
competition made headlines in Indiana
newspapers and the story was carried on
radio and television network newscastso

Jones himself commented with gratitude
on the Indiana prison's policy of allow~
ing inmates to submit creative writing
to magazines, publishers, and contests0

FBI CRIME LAB REDUCES THE ODDS

 

Are you still planning that elusive "big
score?" If you are, be extremely care-
ful. A 29,000 square foot area on the
seventh floor of the Department of
Justice building in Washington will give
you 10 to l odds that you can't get away
with it. .

ThatVS the address of the FBI crime lab,
and while we won't back the bet if they
lose, we will pass on a few of the
figures on which they base their odds.

First comes the staff of 100 scientific
eXpertS plus their many technical aides
and literally scores of clerical work-
erso Next, consider a collection of
guns containing a model of every pistol
and revolver obtainable, to be used for
comparison purposes in identifying the
make and model of guns used in various
crimes around the country.

If you‘re one of those who go for hot
"paper," maybe you'd better stick a
horseshoe or a four leaf clover in your

pocket. The lab has a file containing
83,800 signature Specimens Sifted from
the mountains of fraudulent checks and
money orders that local police agencies
submit to the FBI every year, backed up
by a file of the personal idiosyncrasies
of every known forger in the countryo
Add to these figures the elaborate
facilities for identifying tool marks,
tire prints, footprints, teeth, hair,
bones and a few other things am such as
blood specimens -m that might assist in
solving a crime, and you begin to get
the pictureo

«m Via the MENTOR

 

 

 PRISONER
SET HIM FREE

HERE ALMOST SIXTEEN YEARS,
CAN'T FIND JOB TD

 

‘William wallace Owens, hé, came to
prison with a life sentence for rape al-
most sixteen years ago and started to
build a clean record for himself. Not
once in all that time was "Wally" in
trouble for even a minor violation of
the rules.

Then, almost a year ago, Wally's sen—
tence was commutted from life without
privilege of parole to ordinary life.
Appearing before the parole board, he
was told that he could leave as soon as
he found suitable employmento Hels been
here ever since.

Wally, a Negro, was never in trouble be:
fore this sentence. He served honorably
in the Army and suffered a minor disa-
bility. Following his military service,
he worked as a porter and janitoro He
is a devout Catholic and a friendLy and
courteous little fellow who goes out of
his way to be helpful. But he, like
many other men here, can find neither a
job nor a Sponsor (a person willing to
provide him with a home until he can

find work on his own).

"I’m willing to work for anybody at anym
thing," Wally told us recently. "I just
want to get out and stay outo" He says
he would prefer to pay taxes than live
on them°

Wally may be contacted by a prOSpective
employer or Sponsor through the prisono

ELECTRIC CHAIR AN EXPENSIVE SOLUTION

 

Think the death penalty is an inexpen=
sive solution to the crime problem? Not
so, says sociologist Hans W. Mattick in
his booklet, THE UNEXAMINED DEAEH, re»
leased recently in Chicago.

According to Mattick, the cost of 30
yearsg imprisonment a— much more than is
served on an average life sentence == is
$h5,000. But executions, he says, cost
the state an average of more than
$60,000 in appeals, special detention,
and other legal costs.

L

RENAL COLONY TO BE BUILT 0N FARM HERE

 

A $h00,000 building complex to house
trusties working on the prison farm has
been made possible by the allocation of
funds for the project in Frankfort, it
was announced last month.

The structures will include a dormitory
and processing rooms for produce and
meat and dairy products from the priSe
on9s two trustieuoperated farms. The
buildings will end the necessity to
transport trusties to and from the pris-
on daily, as is currently being done,
and will open more than a hundred cells
in the nowacrowded prison proper.

It is also hOped that the new processing
buildings will result in better food for
the prisoners.

In other construction activity around
the 80=year-old prison, grade beams have

been poured for the new, $125,000 educa-

tion recreation building scheduled for
completion this year. The building will
provide separate classrooms for the
eight grades now being taught in the
tiny prison gymnasium, as well as a
library and school offices. A gymnasium
and auditorium will be on the second
floor of the building. A new sewage
diSposal plant, expected to cost
$208,000, is also planned.

Another "farm colony" is expected to be
built for the prisoners at the laGrange
Reformatory, and the reformatory itself
is scheduled for a millionmdollar overu
haul within the next five yearso

SONNY LISTON REVISITS MISSOURI PEN

 

world Heavyweight Champion Sonny Liston
went back to Missouri State Penitentiary
last month as a visitoro

An Associated Press wirephoto shows the
boxer shaking hands with warden E0 V.
Nash of the prison during his visit.
Kathlyn 0rdway, formerly business mana~
ger of the Kentucky State Penitentiary,
is now married to Nash.

 

 

  

 

 

OLD TIMER TURNS SELF IN -- IN'VAIN

 

KILBY PRISON, ALABAMA o- During the
winter of last year, Fred Cook, 72, came
to Kilby Prison and surrendered to its
authorities. Cook had been on escape
from the prison since 19260

His reason for returning: to clear his
name so he could start receiving his
World War I pension.

During the first part of this year, Cook

did start receiving his pension. After
36 years of running, everything seemed
to be turning out all right. But last

month, Fred Cook died in the prison hos~
pital, his pension unenjoyed.
m- The Kilby Sun

SALVATION ARMY GROUP VISITS PRISON' DUR=
ING NAJHONAL PRISON SUNDAY APRIL 21

HOW DO YOIIRATE AS A PAROLE RISK?

 

 

A Salvation Army vocal trio and a group
from the men's Bible class of the
Hopkinsville Salvation Army took over
the KSP Chapel during National Prison
Sunday last montho

National Prison Sunday is a Salvation
Army holiday set aside for visits to
prisons, reformatories and county jails
in the-United Stateso The Hopkinsville
group was accompanied by Captain Case, a
regular visitor to the institution and a
western Kentucky' Salvationist for more
than eight yearso

Following several gospel songs by the
trio, Captain Case led services for the
approximately 100 inmates in attendance.
Copies of the Special Easter edition of
WAR CRY, the Salvation Army magazine,
were given out after the serviceso

NEVADA PRISON WRITERS GET GOOD TIME

 

The editors of the Nevada State PrisonVB
SAGEBRUSH have little trouble persuading
inmate writers to submit articles and
stories for publication in their organs

Under Nevada policy, any inmate author
who has material published in the SAGEm

BRUSH is awarded extra "good time" we a
reduction of sentence.

How successful do you think you would be
on parole? The fact that you are able
to read this article is, believe it or
not, a not very encouraging signo

According to a statistical study of
parolees released from the Kentucky
State Reformatory between l9h6 and 19h9,
the best possible parole risk is the
illiterate we the man with no schooling
whatsoevero The chances of a parolee's
violating his parole, according to John
Bo Conner, author of the study, increase
in almost direct proportion to the nuns
ber of years he spent in school, and the
worst risk is the man with 9 to 10 years
of educationo

Moreover, according to the study, the
inmate who was reared on a farm in the
mountain regions of Kentucky and who re-
turns to farming in the same area on his
release has a much better chance of
staying free than does the metropolitan?
bred Kentuckian who goes to a laboring
or white—collar job in Louisville,
Lexington, or the surrounding countieso

It also helps if the parolee is married,
with several children, came from an
unbroken home with a farming father and
a housewife mother, has never been in
trouble before, and is from 3h to 56
years old at his releaseo

Moreoever, says Conner's study, the
murderer or the man convicted of man-
slaughter or assault with intent to kill
seldom repeats his crimeso The worst
risks, statistically, are the burglars,
forgers, armed robbers, and others of
that ilko

The cases of 1082 parolees were con-
sidered in the studyo All were white
males, and 7501 per cent of them managed
to "live down” their paroles regardless
of age, education, occupation and back-
ground, however, And, of the 65 parole
ees considered the worst possible risks,
h2 per cent stayed out of trouble during
the survey periods

Maybe they hangt read the surveyo

 KILBY PRISON HOLDS SPECIAL EGG HUNT IN
VISITING YARD FOR VISITING CHILDREN

 

Easter Sunday saw many of the inmates of
Alabama‘s Kilby Prison attending serv»
ices in the prison chapel and enjoying a
special basketball game a- all activi»
ties that might have been held in any
prison in the land. But there was also
a different kind of activity seldom seen

inside prison walls -- an Easter egg
hunt.

Visits in Kilby Prison are held in a
yard set aside for that purpose. Relae
tives and friends of the prisoners are
permitted to purchase food at a prison
concession, then enter the yard to visit
and picnic with inmates. Children can
come, too a, hence the egg hunto

The Easter egg hunt was made possible by
the Kilbnyelfare Committee, a group of
five convicts who meet weekly with the
warden to decide how profits from the
canteen (the store that sells tobacco,
toiletries and foodstuffs to inmates)
shall be Spento The committee not only
purchased the eggs, but assisted in the
hunt, hiding the eggs and awarding
special prizeso

The committee also voted to provide a
special Easter breakfast for the prison
population, and to provide an extra
movie during Easter week.

TWO MORE KSP MEN DONATE EYES T0 IIONS

 

Joe R. Uwaniwich and James Franklin
McKinney pledged their eyes to the Lions
Eye Bank this month bringing the rtetal
number of KSP pledgees to 58°

Eyes may be pledged through the CASTLE
office or by writing to the Lions Eye
Bank, 101 west Chestnut Street, LouiSm
ville 2, Kentucky

The eyes are removed only after death»

6

 

CRIME IN THE NEWS

 

IN ALEXANDRIA, LOUISIANA recently, Mrso
Elizabeth Landry returned home from a
weekend visit to find that her home had
been burglarized.

Among the missing items were a gas
range, a washtub, a refrigerator, a
bathroom set, a power mower a, and the

kitchen sink%

a masked bandit.
store, pulled a

IN TULSA, OKLAHOMA,
walked into a grocery
gun and demanded moneyo The proprietor
instead pulled out a ohh of his own,
whereupon the bandit turned on his heel,
said, "You woulngt shoot a man in the
back," and fled from the store.

A COIORADO BANK, engaged in a drive to
cut down on forgeries, is printing
pictures of its customers on their per—
sonal checks, The checks cost about 15¢
a hundred more than checks printed with
only the name and address.

IN NEW YORK, a bank bandit walked into
the Amalgamated Bank and handed the
woman teller a note demanding money.
The usually honest teller said, "we
donit have any lefto" The man left
without further discussiono

IN QUEBEC, a man walked into a bank and
handed a robbery note to the teller, who
told him in French that she could not
read Englisho He left. Minutes later,
he walked into another bank and handed
another teller the same note, getting
the same reactiono Finally, he proceed»
ed to still another banko

When he handed the teller the note,
faintedo The frustrated man dashed for
the door, slipped on the floor and was
nabbed by a bank employee and a police~
mano

she

The wouldabe bandit was not armed.

 

 

 :sffi#7*7m¢
«smwhflwr-

\

  
 

  

 

 

POUND WISE, PENNY £00141er

 

an inmate of a Mid-
granted a parole on
the basis of his good record and his
efforts to improve himself. With less
than usual difficulty, the man managed
to find a job and a home in California,
sight unseen. Yet it was months before
the parolee was able to leave the prison
and take advantage of the job and home
offers. The reason? He had no money to
buy a bus ticket home!

Several_months ago
western prison was

Another man left prison to take a job
within the same state. Transportation
was no problem -- prisons provide bus
transportation within the state. But
living after he got to the job was.
Armed with only his "gate money" w— the
traditional five dollar bill given on

release -- and a single suit of work
clothes, the man found himself in a
tragic dilemma. Should he Spend his
money at a seconduhand clothing store

for a change of clothes, which he would
certainly need before payday? Or should
he use it to pay a week's rent on the
cheapeSt of rooms? And if he did
either, what would he do for food?

These problems were unusual in that both
were finally solved -- after a fashion.
The Midwestern prison's magazine pub-

‘ (Please turn to Page 8)

THE BOOK BURNERS

 

An epidemic of book burning, or at least
book banning, seems to have broken out
all over the country in the past few
years. In high schools and public
libraries in dommunities east and west,
north and south, some of the most honest
(and therefore most offensive) works of
modern and classic writers are being
yanked from the shelves, destroyed or
burned as smutty or subversive or both.
Even Doestoevski and Mark Twain are
under attack in some areas, and the
SATURDAY REVIEW tells of the burning of
an old Russian child's tale because it
dared to tell of the goodness of Russian
wheat!

Although the disease has so far been
confined mostly to the parents of child-
ren of high school age and younger, it
could conceivably spread to the parents
of children in the colleges and uni-
versities. The time may even come when
self-styled censors will "permit" Ameri-
cans of all ages to read only the Bible,
Shakespeare, and the most innocuous and
insipid of textbooks -— unless, of
course, the censors actually get around
to reading the Bible and Shakespeare, in
which case both will undoubtedly also be
rejected as smutty and subversive.
(Please turn to Page 8)

7

 POUND WISE, PENNY FOOLISH ((10th)

 

lished a story about the California
man's plight, the press picked it up,
and outside readers donated enough money
to enable him to leave prison, several
_months overdue. The other fellow simply
got an advance from his employer. Since
his wages weren't eSpecially high, how»
ever, the first advance led to a second,
the second to a third. Eventually he
had to go into debt for clothing and a
car, which was necessary for transporta=
tion to and from work. After a year he
was so far in debt that he committed
another crtne and was returned to
prison.

The almost infinitesimal gate fee given
in most state prisons (some prisons give
nothing at all) is pound wise and penny
foolish. It is false economy to spend
thousands of dollars to support and try
to reform an inmate for a period of
years, then make it necessary for him to
beg, borrow or steal to keep from coming
back during the cruci§l period immem
diately following his release. Nor is
the idea of giving unearned gate money
particularly appealing. It smacks of
charity, of. a handout from the parent
state.

Much more appealing a- and practical a»

is the System now being used in the
federal 'prisons. There, inmates are
paid a daily wage for their work, range

ing in amount from 25 to 55 cents or
more. A portion of the wage is set
aside in the prisonerVS personal savings
account. The rest he may Spend. Since
the federal prisons provide tobacco,
razor blades, and other personal needs,
the 15 cents or more each day gives the
prisoner a small sum for creature com=
forts and self reSpect. The saved pore
tion gives him a stake that is at least
adequate to maintain him without bore
rowing -- or stealing aw until he draws
a paycheck on his first job in the free

world. ‘The long termer an the man who
is more likely to be without outside
help on his release a- has an even

which he will need.
needs

And
the money leaves with
(Please turn to Page 13

larger stake,
no one who

. 8

THE BOOK BURNERS (Con't)

 

This might not be an entirely bad thing,
for the best literature would be forced
underground as liquor once was, and
there might then be as much financial

reward for the writing of the banned
works as there presently is for the
writing of the sex~for~thewsake~ofmsex

and violence~for~the~sake~ofwviolence
trash that is ignored by the censors.

What makes all of this our business is
the fact that the book burners argue
that young people (and middleaged people
and old people) who read the type of
books the burners don°t like will become
twisted, warped, degenerate and fit only
to be locked away in places like this,
To which I can only argue that my own
reading habits as a boy would have
passed the approval of the most suspi-
cious of the book burners and I am here
nevertheless. On the other hand, I
don9t know of a single thief or-degener-
ate who habitually read during his
impressionable years the type of books
that are currentLy being rejected by the
burners.

comic

What did I read as a boy? Well,

books, for one thing «u but they were
the most innocent cf comics, since the
incredible pictures and stories in the

horror comics didn"t appeal to me at all.

After that came such books as the
Rover Boy series and Little Men, and
there was quite a bit of H. G. Wells,

Victor Hugo, and Mark Twain, I'll admit;
but all of my "honest" friends read them
too. I also read Sunday School literaw
ture, which was innocent and insipid
enough that it“s only recently I“ve been
able to enjoy reading the Bible again.

As for television, my character was
pretty well set by 'the time it came
along, and from what I've seen of it,

television violence
lifeless stuff anyway.

is rather puny and

Now that I am a man grown and have
claimed my place as an equal to every

other convict in the land without the
help of the "smutty and subversive"
literature, I am at last getting around

(Please turn to Page 123

 

  

A Short Story By

 

 

 

BEFORE GAGARIN

Jonathan Parks

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

uSSian Yuri
earth and live.

Gagarin became in l96l the first human to orbit the.”
There is reason to believe,
made a previous unsuccessful attempt to orbit a man.

that the Soviet Union had
If so, that man died unsungo

however,

 

' and swishing by,

The sound of a distant car horn awoke
Red Army Captain Ivan Goremykin from a
night of fretful sleep. He came awake
slowly, his senses sluggish and dull, as
though1reluctant to return him at once
to the world of reality. An unpleasant,
cramplike ache in his left side caused
him to turn over on his back and snapped
his mind to complete wakefulness. He
lay for a long minute, letting the
morning tide of awareness flood the re-
cesses of his mind, then slowly sat up
in bed}

Noise from the suburban streets of
Moscow entered the room as a quiet mur-
mur, the fuzzy, peripheral sound of the
world marching by on a great parade. It
was the sound of the new industrialized
Russia, of cars and trucks Sputtering
of people on their way
to work calling morning greetings as
they passed, their minds occupied with
thoughts of self and their hands clutch-
ing lunch buckets.

It is a kind of music, thought 28 year
old IVan Goremykin, reaching for his
trousers and beginning to dress -- a
workers' symphony of accomplishment, the
music bf a nation's rise from agrarian
poverty to technocratic greatness.

He slipped on his black officer' s boots
and crbssed the room to the window over-
looking Gorki Street. Combing his hair
with his fingers, he yawned lustily and
gazed fidown at the street two stories
below hima

It came into his mind then as he had

known it would. He studied the wide ex-
panse of the new workers' apartments and
tried not to let his mind dwell on it.
But the realization that had lurked in a
semidarkened corner of his mind for the
past thirteen days refused now to be
held in. It lurched forward in his
consciousness and eXpressed itself with
two words -- furlough's end. The day
for departure, for the great new,
dangerous new experiment had arrived.
He took in again the early morning
hustle and bustle of the street and
wondered if he would ever again see
Gorki Street, or any other street, for

,that matter.

He told himself a little angrily to put
aside such thoughts. He was a Russian
Army officer, a man of mental discip-
line, not a bourgeois sentamentalist.
If the past months of machine eXperi-
mentation and the grueling hours of body
and mind conditioning did result in
failure (and they would notl), then he
would at least have had the honor of
serving the party and his :comrades.
That was what mattered -- not what might
happen to him or his.

" Ivan?"

from the window as his
called him from the ad-

He turned
mother's voice
joining room.

"Vanya o.. are you awake, son?"
"Yes, Mama." His heart warmed to her as

it always did when she used her baby
name for him. "I am up and dressed."

 

 

 "Then come, dear. Breakfast is waiting."

* II: *

"You are the best cook in the world,
Mama, but I cannot eat another bite," he
said. -

"Oh, how I love to see you eat, my son.
You eat as a young bear does. Have you
really missed my cooking?"

"If Army food were as good as yours.
Mama," he replied grinning, "everybody
would want to be in the army."

Fyodor Goremykin, Ivan's father, got up
from the table as a knock sounded at the
door. "It is probably Sonya, "Father."
Ivan said, folding his napkin and push-
ing back from the table.

Katrina Goremykin stood beside her son
and ran her plump, work worn fingers
through his thick black hair. "Son,"
she said quietly, "Sonya is a very fine
girl. Your papa and I would be proud to
have her as our daughter-in-law."

Ivan paced restlessly across the room.
"we have been talking about it. Mama.
But you know that I must wait until all
my training is over."

"Oh, Ivan," his mother said, "if you
could only tell your papa and me what
you are doing%"

hands in his and looked

"Mama, you know I cannot
tell you that. I know that you and Papa
must worry, but you must wait and semen
day -- someday Soon. too mm you may have
reaSon to be very proud of your son.
And then you will be glad you waited."

Ivan took her
into her eyes.

"Ivan," called Fyodor Goremykin from the
door. "Your Sonya is here."

"Coming. Papa." He kissed his mother
lightly on the cheek and left the kite
chen. There was a humorous twinkle in
his fathervs eyes when Ivan entered the
room.

"my son is very lucky to have such a
beautiful young woman call on him," he

*.10

said, winking slyly at his son.

girl on the forehead.
"Hello, darling," he said. He held her
at arm's length and grinned broadly.
"You're looking wonderful this morning.
How do you manage to look more beautiful
each time I see you?" He looked at his
watch. Thirtwaive minutes left; the
train would be leaving for Kazalinsk at
9:30. Although he wanted to make his
last few minutes at home as light and
unemotional as possibles his eyes were
somber as he looked at his father and
said, "It's time to leave, Papa."

Ivan kissed the

Fyodor Goremykin extended his hand and
clasped Ivan‘s in a steely grip. He put
his other arm around his waist and drew
him near in an overwhelming bear hug.

His mother came into the room carrying
his regulation dress cap with the red
star above the visor. She handed it to
him as his father helped him on with his
street coat. When he was dressed, Ivan
bent to kiss his mother on the cheek.
"I will bring you back a gift, Mama." he
told her gently.

"0h, vanyas" she said, and her voice
broke. "Bring only yourself. That will
be the most wonderful gift of all."

"we will not delay you any furthers" his
father said decisively. "Take care of
yourself and be a credit to your
country."

* it III

Ivan helped Sonya from the cab at the
entrance to the massive Moscow station.
He turned up the collar of his greatcoat
against the cold. then raised his hand
to press the soft fur piece a